Of Snakes and Lions
by pidlydidly
Summary: MY FIRST EVAH! Draco leaves the Death Eaters after Voldemort kills his parents. And under rather trying circumstances he ends up at Grimauld place with Harry....hehe...predictable but fun......um i guess there could be spoilers.....YAY!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

For most of his life Harry Potter had been plagued with strange and rather horrifying dreams, replaying the many encounters he'd had with Voldemort, predicting future events and such. On this night however, sleeping on a handsome four poster at number 12 Grimauld place, Harry had the most disturbing dream of them all:

_A tall, slender blonde boy stood alone in an alley outside a London pub. His shirt was torn and bloody, and his face, arms and torso were drenched in what appeared to be human blood. Small droplets had accumulated on his eyelashes like light rain often does. Then the rain began soft at first, then a downpour so intense that the boy was soaked in seconds. Harry watched from above, like a spirit he was invisible. The boy sunk onto the ground, only then did Harry see...in his hand the boy clutched a heavy, rusty knife, and on his left arm there was a wound so deep half his arm appeared to be missing. The boy raised the knife and cut into the wound again, gasping for breath, the blonde continued to cut at the wound, muttering to himself. Suddenly Harry was alone with the boy...'he looks so familiar' Harry thought. The blonde sat next to Harry on a sofa, in a large and beautiful house that Harry had never seen before. Harry touched the place on the boys arm where the wound had been, all he saw was a dark-mark, black, and strong. Harry kissed the mark but said nothing, the boy touched Harry's cheek gently. The two sat in silence until the boy spoke "This isn't what i want" he said indicating the mark on his forearm_

_"What do you want?" asked Harry_

_"This" replied the boy pulling Harry close until their noses touched. Harry kissed the boy softly, then harder, until the boy pulled away. The boy looked up meeting Harry's eyes for the first time...they were pale grey-blue surrounded by thick black lashes. Harry blinked; this boy was so familiar..._

"NO!" Harry awoke with a start, he sat up, and his body was shaky, sweaty and slightly aroused...'I did not just dream that I kissed Malfoy...right? Wrong, shit shit shit...what the hell?' Harry stayed awake the rest of the, incapable of reasonable thought. He turned the dream over and over in his head. 'What had Malfoy been doing in the alley? Why was he cutting himself? Was he cutting off the dark-mark? But why?' and most importantly 'Why in the HELL did I kiss him' on and on it went 'I mean its not like I enjoyed it...right...oh god...I mean it wasn't even that good of a kiss...right...it was horrible really...well ok mediocre...Fine it was alright...good even...NO! how can I say that?'

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The last few days would haunt Draco Malfoy for the rest of his life, he had seen disturbing things, things nobody else ever had...well most people anyway. He had been forced to watch as the Dark Lord had tortured his parent's brutally. Lucius died first, he made the "mistake" as the Dark Lord called it, then Narcissa, it would have been Draco's turn, but Voldemort had a better idea...Everything at Malfoy manner was destroyed, including the graves of his ancestors. The mansion had come crashing down around Draco who was simply waiting to be killed..."But what better punishment than a life with nothing?" Voldemort had asked in his cruel voice, Draco couldn't answer, "No ideas?...That is all" Voldemort and his Death-Eaters disapperated leaving Draco alone at the ruined Malfoy manor.

At that moment there was no doubt in Draco's mind as to where his allegiances lay. He would no longer be a slave to the Dark Lord. Draco disapperated from his home to an alley outside a bar in London. He went in and had a few drinks……then a few more….and then another few. He spoke angrily at the bartender "You don't know….he… he…everything…" Draco carried on about his now pointless life, ranting, and finally bursting into a torrent of anguished tears.

"Get this kid outta here" grunted the bartender in a thick Glasgow accent.

Draco sat out in the alley and immediately started racking his drunken mind for a charm that would remove the searing dark-mark from his arm. Nothing came to mind. He grabbed a dull, rusty knife from the ground and sliced angrily into his arm. He stabbed his forearm repetitively until the better part of his arm was reduced to a bloody pulp. He cried harder and harder, wiping his eyes with his bloody arm. Draco stood, and leaned against a dumpster; he tore off a piece of his shirt to wipe the wound. That's when the rain started, a heavy down pour that rinsed the massive wound. To Draco's horror the mark still sneered up at him. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Draco let out an aggravated and terrified scream. Sinking back to the ground he began to cut at his wound again, groaning with pain he cut deeper and deeper; Draco had the strange sensation that he was being watched.

Suddenly everything went blank and Draco fell into a bloody, drunken sleep against the dumpster, dreaming of the horror that composed his life…and something else:

_Draco sat on his mother's favorite antique love seat in the sitting room at Malfoy manner. He was joined by a mysterious but familiar handsome raven haired boy who lightly touched his arm, tracing the thick, black, mark that remained; kissing it softly. "This isn't what I want" Draco said, pointing at the dark-mark._

"_What do you want?" the boy asked brusquely_

_Draco brought the boys face to his, kissing him gently, and then harder, finally pulling away to look him in the eye……a perfect green…._

"GAH" Draco awoke cold, wet, drenched in blood, livid and positively disgusted by his dream, but he had no time to think of that. He stumbled forward a few paces before realizing he was to hung-over and too weak with blood-loss to go any further.


	2. Chapter 2

I forgot to say this earlier so heres my thingo: its the summer after 6th year, Harry is staying at Grimauld place, Dumbledore is not dead. Also, i don't own these characters, blah blah blah, and im not making any money or anything, so yea

Draco awoke in a dark, but warm room, the curtains were drawn and only a thin line of sunlight filtered across the floor. He scratched his left arm, wincing in pain and remembering the horrendous time he'd recently had. Draco lay in the bed feeling much better, but that really wasn't saying much. He sat up and looked around, wondering where he was, Draco looked skeptically around the room. The dim light offered little aid in seeing, but Draco saw that the room was fairly large, had a big wooden dresser, a vanity, a sofa, lots of bookshelves, an oriental rug, and a large four poster bed on which he had been sleeping. 'Where the fuck am I' he wondered heaving himself of the cozy bed and shuffling slowly toward the door. It was then that he noticed he was wearing clothing that didn't belong to him. The garments were ill-fitting on his lanky frame and made him feel oafish and ridiculous.

One might think that Draco ought to have been frightened by waking up in a strange place wearing someone else's clothes…..but he was far better of here than anywhere else. 'Hell' thought Draco 'maybe I'm in Voldemort's hide out…..maybe he decided to do away with me after all…' Draco's thoughts were morbid, but he figured he had nothing to live for anyway, so who gave a shit?

Cautiously Draco tiptoed out of the room and found himself in a long hall that turned to the right so he could not see the end. His hideous blue plaid pajama pants were falling off and the grey "Oxford University" t-shirt was down to nearly his knees. 'Ew' he couldn't help but thinking.

As Draco made his way down the hall he noticed many paintings of old, dark looking witches and wizards….. 'isn't that aunt B?' wondered Draco upon seeing a life size painting of Belatrix Lestrange. When he reached the turn in the hall he heard muffled voices… "He is asleep, you mustn't disturb him"

"But it's been nearly four days…"

"Mmmm, but the boy needs his rest…….." with that the closest door to Draco opened and he was faced with Professors Dumbledore and Snape who were, evidently, in a civil argument about Draco's well-being.

"Ah, but here he is Severus, I suppose he was indeed ready to end his long nap"

"Indeed he was" responded Snape smugly. Draco let out a small, awkward cough

"Mr. Malfoy" Dumbledore began "there a few rather important bits of information we need to give you about your arrival here at Grimauld place, and of course, there are some important bits of information we need from you as well...but not until you are ready of course." Draco was absolutely mortified. Here he was standing three feet away from the man he'd seen murdered….the man he himself had tried to murder, and of course the supposed murderer. Dumbledore was kind and polite to Draco, which of course made Draco feel like he was about two years old and a complete and utter idiot for attempting something so bold (which he was…but oh well)

"You…..I…..You….I'm…..You….Oh god…." Draco sputtered, loosing his ususal composure.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy, I survived your murder attempt, though I must commend you on your ability to commit such illegalities with out getting caught…..very clever….cunning really…a true Slytherin." Draco said nothing as Dumbledore led Draco downstairs and into a large room that must have been the library. "Are you ready to here my bits of information as to your arrival here?"

"I….yes"

"Very well then, its nothing of particularly miraculous value…..but I think you'll find it was a lucky save indeed Mr. Malfoy" and so Dumbledores speech began "As you may know Hagrid is a rather avid drinker, anyway he doesn't often frequent Burt's Pub, but last Friday he decided to stop for a drink…..well as I'm sure you've pieced together by now, he found you outside, practically dead, and decided to bring you here…and here you are…..simply lovely."

Draco was still feeling like a complete badger and to his dismay he began to sob "I'm sorry sir" we whimpered

"For what?"

"You…..You know"

"No I certainly do not….is it for tyring to murder me?...or perhaps just fighting on the side of Voldemort himself?...or is it just the slight inconvience of taking up many hours of my time in the last four fays?"

"Everything sir….. I'm not…not like that anymore…. I hope I'm not anyway…."

"Worry not, all is forgiven, all will remain forgiven as long you make the wise decision to separate yourself from Voldemort. I see you have made an attempt with that arm of yours. Will you please tell me what happened leading up to Hagrid finding you?"

Draco began the whole laborious tale, and finished unable to stop tears from leaking from his eyes, making him feel even more idiotic than he had before.

"Thank you for sharing that with me Draco…..you must be starving; let me show you where the kitchen is." Draco followed Dumbledore down the hall realizing that he was, in fact, dying for something to eat.

Harry sat at the kitchen table with Tonks, Lupin, Mad-eye and Snape, who were all eating eggs. Harry was still wearing his pajamas which bore striking resemblance to Draco's. Harry looked up when Draco entered the kitchen; he looked forlorn and somewhat sickly. "Lookin' good Malfoy" Harry said sarcastically.

"Fuck you" Malfoy said dully.

"Language boys" Lupin interjected.

"Sorry sir" Harry muttered. Harry got up and scooped a bunch of eggs onto his plate. He ate fast.

"Draco" asked Snape "are you hungry? Do you want some eggs,Potter, get him some eggs!"

"NO! I am not going to be his servant"

"I'll get them" Draco murmured. The meal went in complete silence after that until they were joined by Dumbledore.

"It seems" Dumbledore said into the silence "that we are being joined by Minerva and Kingsley this evening so we will need two more rooms."

"Well" grunted Mad-eye "I guess ol' Sev and I can share…..not that we'll enjoy it" he added in response to a look of obvious digust from Snape. "Harry n' Malfoy can share to" Harry just rolled his eyes and Draco scowled at the floor.

Harry moved into Draco's room that afternoon, dragging his huge trunk proved to be somewhat of a challenge, but Dumbledore simply conjured another bed for Harry. Draco was still in his pajamas and sat on the dusty sofa turning the pages of a random book. "Little help please" Harry grunted as he heaved his trunk across the floor. Draco just looked at him with disdain and went back to flipping through his book. "Damn it Malfoy…you ungrateful little prick, I lent you my fucking clothes and you can't even help me for two seconds?"

"These are yours?" asked Draco indicating the too-big pajamas he wore "I guess I should have known….. I mean, everything about you is hideous."

"Shut up Malfoy, you don't know what you're talking about."

Malfoy got up "I know exactly what I'm talking about….fucking golden boy…what about the rest of us….you think it's easy….you don't know shit"

"Yeah Malfoy I think it's easy…..easier than living your whole life with no family, waiting to be killed by Voldemort"

"I'd give anything for that right now" Draco shouted. He lunged at Harry who fell over his trunk. A vicious fight ensued, yelling, biting, kicking, and punching.

Harry pinned Draco under him, sitting on his stomach as Draco continued to struggle. Harry grabbed Draco's arm "What the fuck is this?" he whispered.

"I tried to cut my mark off"

"What?" Harry touched the bandage lightly. "Sorry" he muttered. He was still on top of Draco, looking at his delicate face, big grey eyes, red lips, he looked slightly feminine. Harry brushed a piece of blonde hair away from Draco's face. "Tell me what happened?"

The pair sat on the sofa as Draco quietly told Harry everything that happened; Harry was shocked, and to his surprise, genuinely sorry and concerned.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco silently cursed the night for coming because his only source of entertainment was Harry's breathing; it wasn't doing a v

Draco silently cursed the night for coming because his only source of entertainment was Harry's breathing; it wasn't doing a very good job of numbing his anguish. Draco ached for his father; he remembered the pride in every step his father took, in every movement or gesture he made. Draco sorely wished he call up some of that inherent pride. Draco longed for his grandiose mansion, the bay windows in his room, the lush, dark dining room, and the buttery leather sofas upon which he, his father and his mother would read and chat. Draco felt his mothers death most savagely; Draco remembered her cheers as he raced around their estate on his first racing broom. He remembered her perfect hands, her shape; Draco remembered his mothers smell. He remembered her eyes; Draco had his mothers eyes.

Draco's thoughts shifted to his present. He was in a house full of people who hated him, his family, and his life...and he had no conceivable escape. Draco allowed dysphoria to envelope him and he sank into a delicate sleep.

………………………………………………………

Harry was thinking about what Malfoy had told him. He lay awake galvanizing Malfoys words until he was practically forced off his bed and over to where Malfoy slept. 'Do I care?' Harry wondered while looking a Malfoys sleeping form, so harmless in its torpid state... the answer was easy: 'yes...but why?' that one was more difficult; perhaps it was because Maloy seemed so benign with out his usual air of cruelty, or maybe Harry felt the wound his own parents had left on his soul more lucidly now that he was reminded. Maybe Harry needed a kindred spirit. 'Why cant I feel the way used to...this is Malfoy..._Malfoy,_ he hurt me...I hurt him..._I_ hurt _him..._bloody hell Malfoy you are fucking with my head...why cant I hate you?' "I don't hate you." This Harry said aloud and Dracos long-lashed eyes snapped open only to find that nothing is as it seems

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Draco sat up and Harry sat down. "I don't hate you" Harry repeated softly.

"What, finally good enough for the golden boy?" said Draco sarcastically. He tilted his pale blonde head and flashed a cocky smirk.

"No." said Harry flatly, "and stop bloody grinning at me."

"What am I then?" said Draco sounding slightly more serious.

"Nothing" said Harry realizing I was entirely untrue,.

Darco pushed his hair out of his eyes and touched Harry's shoulder "is this what nothing feels like?" he asked calmly. Draco moved his hand to Harry's neck "Nothing?" he asked again. Draco traced Harry's lips, they quivered, "Nothing?" Draco sneered. Draco pressed his forhead against Harry's "I am everything" Draco snarled before pushing Harry off his four poster.

Harry had been quiet during Darcos entire charade; he was (strangly) comforted by Draco's touch, and now, Harry lie at his mercy he braced for impact. Nothing happened "I didn't mean that" he muttered sitting up and looking at Dracos arm. "Things are changing Mal-er, D-Draco. I think you're needed here" Harry took a deep breath "you're wanted here…I want you here."

"you want me do you?" asked Draco raising an eyebrow suggestively, he laughed sardonically at Harry's bemused expression. "Kidding" he whispered dropping all sarcastic pretense and staring Harry boldly in the eyes.

Harry grinned, here he was joking with Malfoy in the middle of the night as if they were friends, and, Harry supposed, after what Malfoy had told him, they kind of were. Draco slid off the bed and sat next to Harry who was ripping at a hole in his pajama pants. Malfoy continued his playful seduction by draping his arm around Harry. "Bloody hell, mate, you haven't showered in a week, get your armpit off me" Harry was laughing. Malfoy complied and they sat in a shy quiet.

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Sun poured into their room and Harry awoke to find himself using Draco Malfoys stomach as a pillow…. a very hard one at that Harry noticed. Harry smiled in spite of himself at the memory of the previous night. Harry felt well rested and (unusually) hoped Draco did to.


End file.
